5 dead, 20 injured in bus accident

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Cagayan – Five people, including two pregnant women, died after a passenger bus they were riding rammed a concrete barrier along the national highway Tuesday in Barangay Putlan, Caranglan, Nueva Ecija.

Senior Inspector Adriano Gabriel Jr., Caranglan town’s chief of police said four passengers died on the spot while one victim died in the hospital.

Gabriel said the air-conditioned bus, with playe number AYK 552 and driven by 28-year-old Ryan Manuel, was traversing at a high speed that prompted concerned passengers to tell the driver to slow down.

Manuel seemingly ignored the pleadings of the passengers until the bus approached a sharp curve where it crashed into the concrete barrier.

Manuel later on told authorities that he lost control of his bus while it approached the sharp curve.

Facebook photos posted by a Department of Education teacher in the area, Dixon Bagasin, showed several residents trying to help the victims.

It was reported that there were 25 passengers in the bus and that 20 of them were also brought to the hospital.

The bus came from Tuguegarao and was on its way to Manila when it crashed at around 1:30 a.m. near Putlan Village in Caranglan. (Freddie G. Lazaro)